Hardware compatibility
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Greetings,
I am in the process of setting up my network. I want to take an old laptop and turn it into wireless repeater (forgive me but this may not be the proper term). Basically I have my wireless router SSID(NETGEAR63) and I want to connect my laptop to this network via "NETGEAR63" and use the laptop's ethernet port to connect to a switch to connect all my remote media… TV, game console, etc.
My research has lead me to an understanding that the Atheros chipset is the way to go. I came across this product I just wanted to confirm that I can do what I described with this usb wireless adapter.
http://www.airlive.com/product/X.USB
Thanks in advance
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In this mode you will be using the wireless interface as a client (station mode) so there are less restrictions as to which adapters you can use. FreeBSD 8.1 (on which pfSense 2.0.x is based) does not support 802.11N so there is little point in spending extra on an adapter that supports it. Indeed it's much more likely to work using an older b/g adapter.
Some 802.11N adapters will work with pfSense but only in G mode.
The most complete list of what wifi adapters will work with pfSense is here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AojFUXcbH0ROdHgwYkFHbkRUdV9hVWljVWl5SXkxbFE&hl=en#gid=0If you wanted it to ever work as an access point you need one that supports hostap mode.
The airlive X.USB appears to use the Atheros AR9170 chipset. This will definitely not work with 2.0.1 and probably not with 2.1. :(
Steve
